An upgrade of bridges on the Victoria Highway will bring the roadway to a National Highway standard, improve flood immunity and access to the area and improve the road link between the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

The project is located on the Victoria Highway about 300 km west of Katherine near the township of Timber Creek.

As part of the project the existing bridges at Big Horse and Little Horse creeks will be replaced with higher level bridges, raised road approaches and culverts at low points.

The project is valued at $35.5 million and is jointly funded by the Australian and Northern Territory governments. It is part of the National Highway Upgrade Programme – Infrastructure Investment Programme.

The project scope includes;

Construction of two bridges and road approaches between chainage 294km to 296.5km at Big and Little Horse creeks which include culverts at low points to the east of the bridges.

Safety upgrades to the intersections at the Big Horse Camp ground and the Bradshaw Field Training area.

Demolition of the existing bridges..

The new bridges will be constructed alongside the existing road within the existing road corridor.

To ensure the safety of the public and workers, traffic management controls will be in place during the project.

Benefits

The Victoria Highway provides the only sealed link between the Northern Territory and Western Australia providing a critical link in the Perth to Darwin National Corridor.

Big Horse and Little Horse creeks are tributaries of the Victoria River and when in flood the highway is closed at both these crossings on average for 96 hours annually.

The project aims to achieve a 1-in-20-year flood immunity consistent with other new crossings on the Victoria Highway; and reduce the Annual Average Time of Closure to less than 12 hours at the crossings.

On completion of works, increased year round accessibility for the pastoral, agricultural and transport industries, tourism and local users on the National Highway will be realised.

This section of the Victoria Highway forms part of the main route to the Bulla and Amanbidji communities, and is utilised by the Bradshaw Defence facility in the vicinity.

Project timeline

Construction began in July 2017 and completion is expected in December 2018 (weather dependent).

A temporary earth stockpile will be pre-loaded onto the new alignment for a 9 month settlement period to achieve a firm foundation on the compressible riverine soils.